Singapore's 50 most enterprising companies for 2005 announced SINGAPORE, November 22, 2005 ? eSys Technologies, a home-grown company which is rapidly becoming the world's largest hard-disk drive distributor, took top honours at tonight's 2005 Enterprise 50 and e50.startup Gala Dinner and Award Presentation.

The dinner was officiated by Minister of State for Trade & Industry and Education, Mr Chan Soo Sen, who gave away the awards to the winning companies.

The Enterprise 50 award, now in its eleventh year, was created by Accenture and the Business Times (BT) in 1995 to identify, support and reward enterprising privately-owned, local companies across all sectors. In addition to the 50 companies, five start-up companies are aon and market presence.

The judging panel comprised senior management representatives from Accenture, the Business Times, the Economic Development Board (EDB) and International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore).

Said Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Chief Executive Officer, International Enterprise Singapore, "In our globalised economy, staying nimble and being quick to seize opportunities lead to success. Successful firms compete on superior business models. They move quickly to respond to new markets to gain first-mover advantage. IE Singapore is proud to have partnered many E50 companies as they internationalise. We are confident that many of
them would continue to innovate as they grow and build organisational strengths as they expand overseas."

From the entries received, the companies were short listed and then ranked according to specific criteria. A wide range of business activity is represented ? manufacturing (26 %), wholesale/distribution (18 %), food & beverage (6%), construction/real estate (4 %), engineering services (18%), IT & high-tech (6 %), logistics (2 %), and others (20%).1 Almost half (42%) of the winners are young, and have been in business under 10 years. Sixty percent of the winners have less than 100 staff.

"We congratulate the Enterprise 50 and e50.startup award winners. These companies and other emerging enterprises bring new ideas and innovations to the market, help spawn new industries of the future and inject vibrancy into our enterprise ecosystem. Their growth will add to the diversity of our business environment, enhance the synergistic relationships among companies in the ecosystem and contribute to making Singapore an even more compelling hub for business and investment," remarked Mr Ko
Kheng Hwa, Managing Director of Singapore Economic Development Board.

Sponsoring the program for the third consecutive year is DBS Bank. "DBS is committed to helping Singapore enterprises grow domestically and expand regionally, in turn contributing to the development of Singapore's external economic wing," commented Mr Edwin Khoo, Managing Director & Head of DBS Corporate & Enterprise Banking Group."We are honoured to celebrate with all the E50 winners their achievements," he added.

The E50 list is an annual ranking of Singapore's 50 most enterprising, privately-held local companies, organised by Accenture and The Business Times, with the support of the Economic Development Board (EDB) and International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore). DBS Bank has been a sponsor of the program since 2003.